To Be Blessed
by Roxie Zephyr Jocelyn
Summary: [Spoilers up to Noragami Aragoto Episode 5 and up to Chapter 58 for the manga.] There are plenty of shinki who have died for their master's sake. Not just anyone can be promoted to a Blessed Regalia. That's why Blessed Regalias are so praiseworthy. Yukine is one such shinki; a shinki who has become a Blessed Regalia.


A/N: Spoilers for the entire Season 1 of the anime and up to Chapter 58 of the manga. The fascinating characters of Noragami do not belong to me, but to their esteemed creators.

Info:

Shinki – Loosely translated to "sacred treasure" and also known as "Regalia". A shinki is made from a pure human soul and is a tool that can be used by a god for various purposes, such as a weapon in battle.

Hafuri no Utsuwa – Loosely translated to "Blessed Regalia".

To Be Blessed

'I can give you all the money to buy everything you desire.'

'You're a good looking one – you'd be popular with the ladies for sure.'

'Stay by my side and you'll want for nothing.'

' _Be mine.'_

It was the same wherever Yukine went. Rich gods bid for him – because the poor ones wanted him but knew that they could not afford him – and powerful gods fought over him – because the weak ones desired him but knew that they would lose even before they had begun the fight; everyone wanted Yukine.

The much-prized _hafuri no utsuwa_ ; the rare and priceless Blessed Regalia.

But as much as Yukine shoved it in his own god's face – because Yato getting all worked up over Yukine's popularity was always hilarious and the god deserved it for all that he had put his shinki through – Yukine had always declined them; sometimes respectfully, but most of the time very, very rudely.

Because they had absolutely no right to speak about Yato the way they did and Yukine would not forget every slur and slight that that they flung at him; because Yato may have been a no-name useless god who gambled away their hard-earned money – more specifically, _Yukine's_ hard-earned money – but Yato was _his_ – his useless master, his no-name god.

Who had been there for Yukine when Yukine had been nothing more than a lost soul; a soul that was too risky to be used as a shinki because he was young, too young, too unstable – sharp at all the wrong times and dull in all the wrong situations – and too dangerous to any god who chose to wield him.

But Yato had seen him – the him that even Yukine had not yet been able to see – and through the arguments, the insolence, the fights, the agony, Yato had kept him.

 _Yato had wanted him when nobody else had._

Yato, who had been blighted because Yukine had been angry and had sinned in his desperate rage – against anguish and confusion, against envy and hate – and who had refused to excommunicate Yukine – who had not given up on him, who had continued to believe in him – even when Yukine had nearly _killed_ him all because the shinki had been too proud to admit to his wrongdoings.

Yato, who had given Yukine a name – an identity when Yukine had been stripped of his in death – a place to belong – somewhere Yukine would always be welcomed, somewhere the young shinki could call _home_ – someone he could belong to – because Yato was master and companion, father and brother, partner, friend and so much more – and a reason to live – when Yukine had been consumed by loss.

Yato, who, as he had vowed, had re-forged Yukine when he had dulled, who had purified him and restored Yukine's light when he had been covered in darkness.

Yato, for whom Yukine had been willing to sacrifice himself to protect because Yato had done the same for him; because it was Yato who had first been willing to sacrifice himself to protect Yukine.

 _There are plenty of shinki who have died for their master's sake._

Yukine wondered how many masters had been willing to hold on to their shinki even when their shinki had turned on them – not out of a misguided sense of loyalty and love but out of selfishness and carelessness; to believe in their shinki and die for their shinki's sake?

The way Yato had been willing to die for him.

 _Not just anyone can be promoted to a Blessed Regalia._

It took Yukine a while to realize that not many shinki – even those belonging to rich and powerful gods who could provide for them everything that Yukine had wanted – was as blessed as he was – because they had everything he wanted but he had everything that they had yearned for and more; everything they did not dare bring themselves to want because they felt unworthy.

Because the gods were their masters, beings that they had placed on pedestals; because not everyone had a master like Yato who worked to open his heart and reach out to Yukine, meeting him halfway.

 _That's why Blessed Regalias are so praiseworthy._

Shinki are reflections of their masters; a shinki was the product of his or her master's love and attention – the master's heart – blood and tears – the master's pain – pride and joy – the master's achievements – and life and death – the master's very _essence and existence._

If Yukine was praiseworthy; it was because _Yato_ was praiseworthy.

If Yukine was much-prized, rare and priceless, it wasn't because Yukine himself was powerful or brilliant or pure or any of the many adjectives that the gods had showered upon him in praise.

No, Yukine was much-prized, rare and priceless – a Blessed Regalia – because he was a shinki who had been blessed.

Blessed to have a master in Yato.

And no matter how much they complained about each other, no matter how much they argued, bicker and fought with each other, Yato would always be his master.

Just as Yukine would always be Yato's shinki.

Just as Yukine would always be _his_.


End file.
